Feon’Ala
Feon’Ala: Forest of Voices (2019- 2024) was a participatory art and research project created in collaboration with sociologist and artist Cecile Bidaud. Funded by the National Geographic Society the project aimed to build a multimedia archive of interviews, family portraits, and documentation of the legends and myths of the communities living at the forest edge of the eastern rainforests of Madagascar.
Feon’Ala hoped to show how the mythology of the rainforests is a invaluable knowledge resource and should be taken seriously by conservation scientists working in the region. We were also looking at the impact of large scale mining and agriculture was having on the environment and on the mythological world that sits on the precarious edge of extinction.
In 2023 Cecile curated a group exhibition at Is´art Galerie in Antananarivo. Together with 10 Malagasy and international artists, we presented the work we and others had done in the rainforest.
Cécile Bidaud – writing and installation
Alexia Webster – photography and video
Toky Andrianjafitsara and Miranto Rafanomezana – video mapping
Maherisoa Rakotomalala – art digital
MotaSoa – sound art, composition
Meghan Judge – video animation
Dieudonné Vonj – sculpture
Billy Head - poetry
BazouK - installation
Hélio Volana - sound creation
Taka Andrianavalona - sculpture
Hery Zo Ralaindimby - sculpture
Imalo Miakajato - installation
Finally in January 2024 we returned to the rainforest and the communities we had primarily stayed with whom we to present an exhibition of the photos and videos we had created.
The exhibition took place in a village school, and in a few homes with multiple re-screenings.
L’in dépendance
Je dépends de
L’eau que je bois
L’air que je respire
La terre qui me porte
L’esprit qui m’élève
Je dépends du fruit que je mange, de la personne qui l’a cueillit, de celle qui a planté et pris
soin de l’arbre qui l’a porté, de celle qui l’a transporté et de celle qui me l’a vendu
Je dépends de toi, de toi et de toi
A travers mes neurones miroirs, j’ai appris à parler, à marcher, à danser, à réfléchir et à me
nourrir
Je suis le résultat de tous ces liens que j’ai tissé avec des êtres en relation
Des êtres humains, des végétaux, des animaux, des minéraux, des esprits, des êtres
microscopiques et des astres de l’Univers.
Je dépends de moi
De mes émotions
De l’interprétation de mes émotions
De l’accueil des événements de la vie
De ma vibration
Je dépends de nous
De notre bienveillance réciproque
De l’ouverture de nos cœurs
De nos liens multiples, complexes, protéiformes et magiques
Written by Cécile Bidaud
